The present invention is directed to gaming equipment. More particularly, the present invention is directed to an automated blackjack table which will enable casinos to significantly increase revenues from each of its blackjack tables.
Currently, each dealer can reasonably accommodate seven players at her/his blackjack table. The dealer is thus limited in spite of the fact that, typically, multiple-deck shoes from which s/he deals have 4, 6, 8 or more decks which could easily allow 20 or more players to participate in any given hand. The limit is not a result of the availability of cards; the limit is a practical one: a dealer can only reasonably keep track of up to seven gamblers at a time. To try to include more would require the dealer to turn her/his back on the other players which could afford opportunity for tampering with the cards/bets.
It is among the objects of the present invention to permit a casino to significantly enhance the efficiency of its dealers and, hence, the revenue stream to the house by providing an automated table. The blackjack table of the present design has a rotating ring with numbered stations that correspond to the numbered player stations around the exterior of the table. The dealer can actuate the rotation of the ring rapidly deal hands on top of each number on the ring for each player present (as indicated either by an electronic light system or a manual chip system) and reposition the ring to present each player with her/his hand. Once the initial bets have been placed, the dealer activates a series of retractable windows which eliminates the players' access to the cards and initial bets which have been placed. S/he then moves the sliding dealer's station from player to player completing the hand as s/he otherwise would. When the dealer deals her/his own hand, the digital camera projects the hand onto a plurality of monitors so that each player is able to see and assess whether her/his own hand is a winner or not. The dealer then collects the bets and cards into recesses in the dealer station and prepares for the next hand by lowering the windows.
Various other features, advantages, and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent after a reading of the following detailed description.